The Minardi Formula One team signed him for the 1988 season. He made his debut for them on 3 April 1988, at the season's opening race in Brazil, where he qualified 20th but failed to finish the race when his rear wing collapsed. Over the next five rounds, he continually outpaced team-mate and fellow Spaniard Adrián Campos, who was replaced by Pierluigi Martini from round six of the Championship in Detroit. Martini and Pérez-Sala were team-mates in both 1988 and 1989, with Martini outqualifying, outracing and outscoring Pérez-Sala. Pérez-Sala's only point came from a sixth place in the 1989 British Grand Prix. Along with the two points Martini scored for finishing fifth, the pair scored enough points to keep Minardi out of pre-qualifying for the rest of the season. At the end of the 1989 season, he left Formula One, having started 32 Grands Prix. After his retirement from Formula One, Pérez-Sala became a regular in the Spanish touring car championship.

In July 2011, he was recruited as a consultant for the Hispania F1 team, which was founded by former Minardi team-mate Campos.[1] On 15 December 2011, it was announced that he would become team principal of HRT, replacing Colin Kolles.[2][3]